2021 season preview: Stewart-Haas Racing

Posted on February 2, 2021January 19, 2022 by Chase Wilhelm

Today’s Stewart-Haas Racing preview continues NASCAR.com’s countdown of team previews for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, ranked in reverse order of best finish in last year’s owner standings.

MORE: Changes to know for 2021 season

STEWART-HAAS RACING

Manufacturer: Ford
Engine: Roush Yates Engines
Driver-crew chief pairings: Kevin Harvick-Rodney Childers (No. 4), Aric Almirola-Mike Bugarewicz (No. 10), Chase Briscoe-Johnny Klausmeier (No. 14), Cole Custer-Mike Shiplett (No. 41)

What’s new: There’s a new kid on the block. Chase Briscoe will take over the reins of the No. 14 Ford after Clint Bowyer’s retirement from full-time racing. Briscoe enters his rookie campaign with higher expectations after earning nine race victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series last season. The 26-year-old from Mitchell, Indiana, will have veteran crew chief Johnny Klausmeier atop the pit box, who served as Bowyer’s crew chief last year. Briscoe will compete for Sunoco Rookie of the Year with Front Row Motorsports driver Anthony Alfredo.

Team outlook: The organization looks poised for even more success in 2021. The Harvick-Childers combination is always lethal, especially after coming off a nine-win season that saw them miss the Championship 4 after misfortune in the Round of 8. Almirola hopes to continue momentum after scoring career-high numbers in top-five and top-10 finishes in 2020. Heading into his sophomore season, Custer will be out to prove that his Kentucky victory to advance into the playoffs was no fluke. Rookie sensation Briscoe has all the potential to record a multi-win inaugural Cup Series season if he can be a quick study out of the gate.

Racing Insights’ stats break: With 35 total victories, no driver has won more than Kevin Harvick in his seven seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing. The 45-year-old driver earned nine wins in 2020 and shows no signs of slowing down. Only three drivers in the last 15 seasons have won over the age of 45. Thanks to his Kentucky Speedway victory last year, Cole Custer won 2020 Rookie of the Year honors. Aric Almirola had career-high top-five and top-10 finishing streaks in 2020. Chase Briscoe joins the team, replacing Clint Bowyer, after winning nine races en route to the Xfinity Series championship last year. Briscoe broke the record for most Xfinity Series wins by a Ford driver in one season, while scoring the second-most victories by a non-Cup competitor. (Sam Ard had 10 wins in 1983.)

Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Ford

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Experience: 21st full-time season in NASCAR Cup Series
2020 stats: Fifth in final standings; 9 wins, 20 top fives, 27 top 10s
2020 final Fantasy Live ranking: 1st
2021 championship odds: 11-2

Outlook: If you’re Harvick and crew chief Childers, you may be over last season’s heartbreak, but you will never forget it. Harvick was the favorite to win the 2020 championship until hiccups in the Round of 8 soiled his chances of a second title. There’s absolutely no doubt we could see Harvick click off another seven-, eight- or even nine-win year in 2021. With so many changes heading into what is arguably the most anticipated Cup Series season in recent memory, there is one constant: the No. 4 car will be at the front more often than not.

Aric Almirola, No. 10 Ford

Chris Graythen | Getty Images

Experience: 10th full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series
2020 stats: 15th in the final standings; 6 top fives, 18 top 10s
2020 final Fantasy Live ranking: 11th
2021 championship odds: 35-1

Outlook: Almirola posted career numbers in 2020, scoring career highs in top fives and top 10s. While his final placement in the drivers’ standings was no where close to his fifth-place ranking during the 2018 season where he also recorded his first victory in the No. 10, there are plenty of positives the team can carry over into this year. Almirola had eight finishes of 20th or worse last season, so if he can minimize those types of results this time around, there’s no reason why he can’t be a championship threat.

Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Ford

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Experience: First full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series
2020 stats: First in Xfinity Series standings; 9 wins, 16 top fives, 22 top 10s
2020 final Fantasy Live ranking: N/A
2021 championship odds: 100-1

Outlook: There’s a lot of hype around young Briscoe after the dominating season he had in the Xfinity Series last year. While he came up short of winning the title to Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, that’s not something being held against him. If there’s one dark horse in the field that you should not overlook, it’s Briscoe. Being a highly experienced dirt racer from Indiana, the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race is one where he has a legitimate shot at parking it in Victory Lane to advance to the playoffs.

Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

Experience: Second full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series
2020 stats: 16th in the final standings; 1 win, 2 top fives, 7 top 10s
2020 final Fantasy Live ranking: 20th
2021 championship odds: 66-1

Outlook: With one year under his belt and the pressure of earning that difficult first career victory out of the way, Custer’s sophomore season will likely be more consistent. His Kentucky triumph proved that he can find the front at NASCAR’s highest level; now the focus needs to be on staying up there on a regular basis to improve upon his 19.2 average finish in 2020. If Custer can cut down the DNFs (six in 2020), he has all the potential to pose a greater playoff threat and record a multi-win season along the way.

NASCAR.com 2021 team previews schedule

Jan. 18: 23XI Racing
Jan. 19: Trackhouse Racing Team
Jan. 20: Live Fast Motorsports
Jan. 21: Spire Motorsports
Jan. 22: JTG Daugherty Racing
Jan. 25: Front Row Motorsports
Jan. 26: Richard Petty Motorsports
Jan. 27: Roush Fenway Racing
Jan. 28: Wood Brothers Racing
Jan. 29: Richard Childress Racing
Jan. 30: Non-chartered and teams outside the top 30
Feb. 1: Chip Ganassi Racing
Feb. 2: Stewart-Haas Racing
Feb. 3: Joe Gibbs Racing
Feb. 4: Team Penske
Feb. 5: Hendrick Motorsports

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by Staff Report

Mark Beard Sr., team owner of the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series, died Sunday. He was 72.

Beard Motorsports announced his passing Monday evening through social media. Beard was owner and team president for the No. 62 entry, which was used in part to market Beard Oil Distributing, a third-generation family business based in his hometown of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

The team indicated it still intends to compete in the season-opening Daytona 500, deploying Xfinity Series regular Noah Gragson in a bid for his NASCAR Cup Series debut.

Beard Motorsports has been an occasional entrant in the Cup Series in recent years, fielding Brendan Gaughan — like Gragson, a Las Vegas native — primarily in superspeedway events at Daytona and Talladega. The team notched all four of its top-10 finishes with Gaughan, the most recent being an eighth-place result in the regular-season finale at Daytona last August.

“Racing is our passion project,” Beard said last month, marking the announcement of Gragson as the team’s next driver. Beard made two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as a driver, scoring a best finish of 18th in the Daytona season opener in 1982.

Heavy hearts today. Thinking about the Beard Family❤️ Time to go "drive the piss out of it" and do it for Mr. Beard in the 500. #RIP https://t.co/sZSDWm0GcK

— Noah Gragson (@NoahGragson) February 2, 2021

Beard’s survivors include his wife of 43 years, Linda; his daughter, Amie; his son, Mark; two sisters and six nieces and nephews. Memorial services are scheduled Feb. 20 at Charles R. Lux Funeral Home in his hometown.

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by Zack Albert

NASCAR competition officials provided a variety of updates Monday to preview what’s ahead for the 2021 season and beyond, including the announcement that the development stage of the Next Gen car was complete.

The updates were part of an annual roundtable media briefing from the NASCAR Research & Development Center, hosted virtually by the competition department this year because of COVID-19 concerns. Officials touched on safety, rules changes and coronavirus protocols, but also delved into the timetable for the Next Gen prototype car that’s set for an official on-track debut in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022.

John Probst, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation, indicated that all three manufacturers — Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota — have had their designs for the Next Gen car approved. The car will return to the track March 16-17 at Richmond Raceway, Probst said, and a handful of Goodyear tire tests were planned beyond that. All three automakers are set to have models on the track at the same time during a proposed test for wheel-force data collection at Martinsville Speedway in late March.

Probst said a full unveil of the three manufacturer-specific models is set for late spring. The car was initially slated for a competition debut this season, but COVID-19’s impact pushed back that schedule.

“In hindsight, when we were on target for 2021 and now we’ve gone through all of this, we look back and boy, we probably would’ve had our tongues hanging out right now if we were to launch it in 2021, which we could’ve done,” Probst said. “I think we’re certainly on schedule. We’re probably actually being able to spend a little more time since we pushed it out to 2022, focusing on a lot of the line-item costs.”

The P3 prototype will be used in tire testing at Richmond, Darlington Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway this year, Probst said. Seven tests are scheduled for wheel-force transducer (WFT) Next Gen cars and three organizational tests for teams. Probst said at least one organizational test would take place after the Charlotte Roval race on Oct. 10, with two set for after the season ends. Two tire tests are also scheduled for the current car model this season.

In other updates from Monday’s briefing:

• NASCAR will continue to use COVID-19 protocols that were established last season, placing an extra emphasis on rapid reporting and supplementing its screening processes. John Bobo, NASCAR vice president of racing operations, said that teams have been reminded about proper use of masks as a coronavirus safeguard when at the race track.

“We’re constantly monitoring what’s going on in terms of the virus, also as it relates to the communities that we’re going into,” Bobo said. “We always want to be a good guest in every community and be aware of everything that’s happening there. … We continue to put as many tools as possible into the protocol toolbox. Like last season toward the end of the year, we did a lot of rapid-antigen testing as part of a secondary screening as people were coming into the track. We’re going to continue this season as well as part of secondary screenings to do rapid-antigen testings if requested by the position, and it’s a great tool when we need to use that.”

• No wholesale changes are coming for the current car, but officials have determined that a low-downforce, high-horsepower (target: 750 hp) package would be used for races at Darlington, Nashville Superspeedway, the Daytona International Speedway Road Course and likely Circuit of the Americas. Officials indicated that the chicane installed before the start-finish line at the Daytona road circuit would remain in place for 2021 events.

• Officials said that the structure for the March 28 debut on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway was still taking shape, but that qualifying heats would be used to set the starting lineup. “Still working through some intricacies on that one, but another race that we are really looking forward to for this season,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. The race is scheduled for 250 laps, 100 laps longer that previous dirt-track events for the Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway.

• Field sizes have been established for the 2021 season in all three national series. Points-paying Cup Series races will remain limited to 40 cars, with practice and qualifying only scheduled for eight events. In the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series, the field will be capped at 36 vehicles when qualifying is held; if qualifying is not scheduled or is canceled because of inclement weather, the field will expand to a 40-car maximum.

• NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell said that sensitivity training has been made mandatory for the entire industry and that membership in the sport is contingent on completing the training. “I would say that our mantra to be as inclusive as we possibly can has never been stronger,” O’Donnell said.

• Miller said that NASCAR has clarified its stance on a specific pit-road penalty, indicating that a crewmember who slips and places his or her hand in the pit box while reaching over the wall for a tire would no longer qualify as an infraction for too many crewmembers over the wall.

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Daytona International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — GRAMMY®-winning international superstar, Pitbull, will serve as the Grand Marshal for the 63rd DAYTONA 500 on Sunday, Feb. 14, and will give the command for drivers to start their engines (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway.

“It’s an honor to be named Grand Marshal for the 63rd DAYTONA 500,” said Armando Christian Perez (Pitbull).

“It’s exciting to mix culture, music and sports into motor racing. I’m humbled how embracing the NASCAR community and fans around the world have been about me joining the Trackhouse family. Unity at its finest. So let’s get ready to start engines, DALE (Dah-lay)!”

“We’re honored to have someone as accomplished and respected as Pitbull be a part of the 63rd running of the Daytona 500,” said Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile. “He is not just a world renowned artist, Pitbull has made his mark as a philanthropist and businessman, most recently announcing he has joined the NASCAR ranks as a co-owner with Justin Marks at Trackhouse Racing with driver Daniel Suárez. We’re proud to welcome Pitbull to our great sport and I can’t wait to hear him deliver the most famous words in motorsports ahead of the Great American Race.”

With countless awards, dozens of international number ones, hundreds of gold and platinum certifications, single sales of over 80 million, and cumulative views in excess of 15 billion, Pitbull owns one of the most impressive careers in music history, setting the stage for him to make true change. Not only did he successfully help establish Sports Leadership Arts and Management (SLAM!) tuition-free public charter schools across the country, he was honored by the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of “Clean Water Here.” He is also a partner in eMerge Americas, the annual tech and innovation summit held in Miami, and he was honored alongside music legends as well as Nobel Peace Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners at the 2019 International Achievement Summit.

In January, Pitbull was announced as an ownership partner in the new NASCAR Cup Series team, Trackhouse Racing, set to make their NASCAR debut at the DAYTONA 500 with the No. 99 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Suárez.

For information on the 2021 DAYTONA 500 and all Speedweeks Presented By AdventHealth events, which kicks off on Tuesday, Feb. 9 with the 43rd Annual Busch Clash on the DAYTONA Road Course under the lights, fans can visit www.DAYTONA500.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.

All Speedweeks events will be conducted in accordance with enhanced safety protocols and procedures to provide a safe environment for guests, NASCAR competitors, employees and the local community. All guests will be screened before entering the facility and will be required to wear face coverings while maintaining six feet social distancing throughout their visit.

For a schedule of on-track activities and protocols, logo onto www.DAYTONA500.com. Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest speedway news.

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin and longtime primary sponsor FedEx have agreed to multiyear extensions with Joe Gibbs Racing, the organization announced Monday. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.

“I’m so fortunate to have the support of FedEx behind me throughout my career,” said Hamlin in a team release. “I take a tremendous amount of pride in having the opportunity to represent them not only on the racetrack, but also in the community through the countless programs they have supported for the better part of these past two decades.”

.@JoeGibbsRacing, @FedEx and I have shared a lot of big wins and special moments together throughout our 16 years together. And we’re nowhere near done. Still have a lot of racing and winning to do for a coach and all the FedEx team members. Let’s go! https://t.co/tpIYQ7Z4FM

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) February 1, 2021

Entering his 16th full-time NASCAR Cup Series season in 2021, the No. 11 Toyota driver has earned 44 career victories, 179 top-five finishes and 280 top 10s in 542 career starts. The Chesterfield, Virginia, native is a three-time Daytona 500 champion and will try to become the first driver to win three consecutive Daytona 500s when the season kicks off on Feb. 14 at Daytona International Speedway.

“The relationship between FedEx and our organization has been a tremendous success story in so many ways and we’re excited that FedEx will continue to support Denny and our No. 11 team,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “Denny continues to perform at the top of our sport, and our goal is to continue to position him and FedEx to win a championship.”

Hamlin has reached the Championship 4 the past two seasons, finishing fourth in the standings on both occasions. The 40-year-old has earned 13 wins in that span, which is tied for the most in the NASCAR Cup Series during that time with Kevin Harvick.

“FedEx has remained the primary sponsor of the No. 11 car and Denny Hamlin for over fifteen years, and together we have celebrated many successes on and off the track, including three Daytona 500 wins,” said Jenny Robertson, Senior Vice President, FedEx Integrated and Marketing Communications. “The FedEx Racing relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing has continued to provide meaningful opportunities for us to engage our customers, team members, and fans, as well as make a positive impact in the community. We are honored to extend this relationship with the Joe Gibbs Racing organization for multiple years and continue the drive for a NASCAR Cup Series championship.”

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by Staff Report

Bubba Wallace probably didn’t have NFL Pro Bowler on his 2021 to-do list, but here we are.

Wallace traded his fire suit for a football jersey Sunday evening, helping the NFC roll to a 32-12 victory in the 2021 Pro Bowl, held virtually through Madden 21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wallace, set for his first season with 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series this year, joined Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams and former NFL star Marshawn Lynch on the winning side. The participants rotated control of the players, and Murray — who helped call plays to get Wallace more involved — was named the game’s MVP. The AFC team was controlled by Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson, NFL analyst Keyshawn Johnson, Tennessee Titans rusher Derrick Henry and Snoop Dogg.

RELATED: Changes to know for 2021

Wallace had set low expectations for himself entering the game, but he was key to a first-half offensive outburst for the NFC, scoring three second-quarter touchdowns and reveling in the playful (we think) trash talk on the live stream. Snoop Dogg was among those crying foul for the AFC, claiming that Wallace and his teammates had undersold his actual Madden skill.

“Ya’ll got a ringer over there,” Snoop Dogg lamented. “Y’all didn’t tell us Bubba knew how to play.”

"WE COACHIN'"@K1 dials up a play and @BubbaWallace plays it to perfection. NFC is ahead after the @DeAndreHopkins TD!

WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/riFQzMVuwf pic.twitter.com/PVuuKXbsFl

— NFL (@NFL) January 31, 2021

ANOTHER TD for @BubbaWallace and the NFC! #ProBowl @dalvincook

WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/riFQzMVuwf pic.twitter.com/y6HkHkwNfL

— NFL (@NFL) January 31, 2021

“I was just taking it all in and enjoying it and then hearing some of the stories and conversations, it was just, it was almost like, ‘Man, am I really sitting here talking to these guys,'” Wallace told ESPN. “I’m just a race car driver that has no business being in the room with these people but, hey, here we are, being here playing with Snoop Dogg, that was cool.”

Watch the entire broadcast of the virtual Pro Bowl here.

Posted on February 1, 2021February 3, 2021 by Track Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway today announced the criteria for eligibility for NASCAR Cup Series drivers to compete in one of the most unique and anticipated events in all of motorsports — the historic 2021 Busch Clash At DAYTONA on the iconic DAYTONA Road Course.

Set for Tuesday, Feb. 9, under the lights, the 2021 Busch Clash At DAYTONA will mark the first time in history the traditional exhibition-style event will tackle the track’s 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course, which was introduced for the first time ever to NASCAR’s top three national series this past August. The 43rd Annual Busch Clash At DAYTONA, which kicks off DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented By AdventHealth, will be held on the same course (with the lone addition a NASCAR fourth-turn chicane) as the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA and the DAYTONA 200, North America’s premier races for sports cars and motorcycles, respectively.

Due to the pandemic, NASCAR adjusted the format for setting the field for a majority of its races in 2020. As such, the eligibility for next season’s Busch Clash At DAYTONA — which has long been tied to Busch Pole Award wins in the previous season — will have a new look. The eligibility requirements for the 2021 edition are:

2020 Busch Pole Award winners
Past Busch Clash winners who competed full-time in 2020
DAYTONA 500 champions who competed full-time in 2020
Former DAYTONA 500 Busch Pole winners who competed full-time in 2020
2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers
2020 NASCAR Cup Series race winners
2020 NASCAR Cup Series stage winners

In contrast to the tightly packed competition on the Speedway’s famed 2.5-mile high-banked-tri-oval, the reimagined Busch Clash, which was held for the first time in 1979 at Daytona, will utilize approximately three-quarters of the tri-oval along with the challenging infield portion of the road course. That translates into 14 turns instead of the usual four.

“The excitement by both the drivers and our fans leading up to the 2021 Busch Clash At DAYTONA is unprecedented,” said Speedway President Chip Wile. “NASCAR’s initial visit to the DAYTONA Road Course in August delivered big time, with incredible competition, adding to the legacy of the famed road course made famous with sports cars and motorcycles.

“Having the Busch Clash At DAYTONA on Tuesday night also adds to the anticipation of an action-packed Speedweeks calendar. With the talent level in the field, the race will now clearly have its own look and feel during DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented By AdventHealth in 2021 and beyond.”

There are 24 drivers eligible to compete in the ’21 Busch Clash, and they include:

Aric Almirola
Ryan Blaney
Alex Bowman
Clint Bowyer
Chris Buescher
Kurt Busch
Kyle Busch
William Byron
Cole Custer
Matt DiBenedetto
Austin Dillon
Ty Dillon
Chase Elliott
Denny Hamlin
Kevin Harvick
Jimmie Johnson
Erik Jones
Matt Kenseth
Brad Keselowski
Joey Logano
Ryan Newman
Tyler Reddick
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Martin Truex, Jr.

Here is the bulk of the schedule for Speedweeks Presented by Advent Health. For a more complete schedule, click here:

Tuesday, Feb. 9: 43rd Annual Busch Clash At DAYTONA (DAYTONA Road Course under the lights)
Wednesday, Feb. 10: DAYTONA 500 Qualifying Presented By Kroger
Thursday, Feb. 11: Duel At DAYTONA qualifying races
Friday, Feb. 12: NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race
Saturday, Feb. 13: Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. 300 (NASCAR Xfinity Series) and Lucas Oil 200 Driven By General Tire (ARCA Menards) doubleheader
Sunday, Feb. 14: DAYTONA 500, The Great American Race.

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by Staff Report

As Cameron Bolin was leaving Greenville-Pickens Speedway on the final race of the 2019 season, he turned to this dad and said it would be “dang cool” if he could finish 2020 as track champion.

Three wins and 15 top-five finishes later, Bolin’s premonition came true, and he was able to put his name on the wall of champions at the South Carolina track where he’s been racing for three years.

At 15 years old on championship night, Bolin is the youngest late model track champion in the history of Greenville-Pickens, a NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series sanctioned half-mile paved track in Easley, South Carolina.

“It‘s really surreal,” Bolin said. “I‘d never thought about it that way until someone did mention that I was the youngest name on the wall at Greenville at 15. That‘s cool within itself. Your name is there for good with the Wall of Fame.”

Greenville-Pickens Speedway | GPS on Facebook

Bolin was able to share his track championship with the people who helped him get his start in racing. Most nights in the race shop there are three generations of Bolins working on the car – Cameron, his dad, Brad, and his grandfather, Roddey.

Roddey Bolin raced dirt late models all around North and South Carolina for nearly 30 years. When Cameron started getting into the sport, Roddey backed off his own driving to be the youngest Bolin’s crew chief.

Brad Bolin never drove himself, but he was also a crew member on Roddey’s team.

The three started working as a trio when Cameron was five years old. He moved up to racing bandoleros at tracks near his home in York, South Carolina, eventually branching out to races across the country.

Cameron won a national championship in bandoleros in 2017 when he was 12 years old.

The next year they gave late models a try at Greenville. While the first race went without a hitch – he finished second – the second race he was caught up in a crash and totaled the car.

“Here we are in May of 2018 and we had to take a step away running on the limited budget that we do. We had to save the money up to buy a new car,” Cameron said.

The team was only able to race one more time that year at the end of September.

The next year was Cameron’s first full season, and he learned a lot that he took into 2020. The start of his championship run wasn’t smooth sailing, though.

“We got off to a slow start. Our first night out we qualified decent but just didn‘t really have the speed we needed to have in the races and stuff like that,” he said. “We couldn‘t put a whole night together. We finally hit on something about the fifth race and we really started putting some solid runs together.”

Cameron’s first win came in August when he finished a race third, but was given the victory after the top two finishers were both disqualified.

A week later he got his first on-track win.

“We took a lot of notes. Taking what we did learn in 2019 and building on it and what we learned at the start of 2020 through struggles and through challenges,” Cameron said. “I think we took every week as another page and once we got to about August when we won our first race we had it down to a T, so that was really big.”

Through the struggles and triumphs, the Bolins stuck together and kept the team a family. Cameron’s two best friends come to help every weekend, and he has uncles and cousins who also pitch in.

Roddey’s cousin, Scott, who helped the eldest Bolin start the race team in 1978, started helping again in 2019, and served as crew chief for Cameron while Roddey was spotter for one race in 2020.

“That was cool getting to see them rekindle their old times through my racing,” Cameron said.

Cameron said he loves that his team is a family, and he has his grandfather to go to for help.

“I bank on my pawpaw a lot just for advice and just through all his years of what he‘s seen and stuff like that,” he said. “It‘s really cool that we can talk about how I need to be better in some ways and how I can slow down in others. But it‘s really special because he is my role model and here we are ultimately living out the same dream in a way.”

It’s possible Cameron will try to repeat his track title at Greenville this upcoming season, but the Bolins also plan to travel around to try to make a run at the South Carolina championship. He finished second in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series South Carolina title race in 2020 by 42 points. He’s also always wanted to race at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina, so the hope is to run a few races there, as well.

NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series: 2020 National Standings | 2020 U.S. State & Canadian Province Standings

Cameron may be just 16 years old, but he already knows racing is what he wants to do for a long time.

“I‘m ate up with it, honestly. It‘s an addiction,” he said.

“There‘s a picture of me and my grandpa in Victory Lane and I‘m six months old. Racing is all I know. I can‘t get through a conversation without relating it to racing. It‘s all I want to do.”

Posted on January 31, 2021January 31, 2021 by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Tuesday, February 2
On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, February 3
1:30 a.m., 2021 NASCAR Season Preview Show (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Sunday, February 7
3 p.m., 2021 NASCAR Season Preview Show (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

Posted on January 31, 2021February 1, 2021 by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Filipe Albuquerque suspected something was amiss with his closest competitor near the end of the race. He was right.

Albuquerque watched in his mirrors and heard his team’s reaction over the radio Sunday when Renger van der Zande was forced to pit with a flat right rear tire with seven minutes and 50 seconds left in the race, allowing Albuquerque to sail to victory in the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. The historic race opened the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Albuquerque drove the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 DPi to the finish line 4.704 seconds ahead of the No. 48 Action Express Racing/Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R driven by Kamui Kobayashi. It was Albuquerque’s second Rolex victory in the past four years and the third consecutive Rolex victory for Wayne Taylor Racing.

WTR joined Chip Ganassi Racing as the only teams to score three consecutive overall victories in the Rolex 24. The Ganassi team went back-to-back-to-back from 2006-08.

As van der Zande filled his mirrors during their battle late in the 24-hour race, Albuquerque noticed him charging hard and occasionally getting his tires off track, especially in the Bus Stop, a left-right-left chicane that breaks up a portion of the backstretch on the Daytona oval, much of which is used on the 3.56-mile road course.

“I was always looking in the mirrors,” Albuquerque said. “He was fast. He was faster than me, obviously. But I thought there must be tire trouble. Physics tells you that. When you push too hard, something happens. When you go off track as well, something goes bad. I was not expecting that to happen, obviously, but I was expecting some trouble with (van der Zande’s) performance.”

The No. 10’s victory, shared with co-drivers Helio Castroneves, Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi, was the first in the Rolex 24 for Acura, which moved from Team Penske to WTR and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian during the offseason.

It also was the fifth overall Rolex 24 victory for Wayne Taylor Racing, which previously won in 2005, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

This one, though, was made more gratifying by the effort that went into it. During a short offseason, WTR changed manufacturers – moving from Cadillac to Acura – and revamped its driver lineup.

“So much went into this,” said Ricky Taylor, who scored the second overall Rolex victory of his career. “It was definitely a test of trust and a testament to preparation and sticking to a plan. … We skipped all of the offseason testing because the guys needed time to do everything properly. They know how to win this race. I feel like we were all lucky to be a part of it.”

Van der Zande – who drove and won the Rolex 24 for WTR the past two years – was pressuring Albuquerque and at times closing in sharply during the final minutes of the race before the cut right-rear tire on his No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R in the last of 12 turns on the Daytona road course.

“He nearly passed me, but then he was kind of steady for four of five laps,” Albuquerque said. “He was not really getting in there. I was just counting. ‘One more lap. One more lap in the lead.’ When he blew, we were lucky. But there is nobody who has ever won Daytona or any championship without luck.”

Following Kobayashi (who was also chasing a third straight Rolex 24 win) and the No. 48 Cadillac co-driven with Jimmie Johnson, Simon Pagenaud and Mike Rockenfeller was the No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda RT24-P shared by Oliver Jarvis, Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito.

PHOTOS: At-track shots from Rolex 24

The Ganassi crew replaced the tire on the No. 01 car, but – without time to catch the field – van der Zande and his teammates had to settle for a fifth-place finish.

In the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, Paul-Loup Chatin put the finishing touches on a 19.513-second victory by the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 over the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA co-driven by John Farano, Gabriel Aubry, Tim Buret and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

Chatin co-drove the No. 18 with Ryan Dalziel, Dwight Merriman and Kyle Tilley.

“It’s amazing,” Merriman said. “I’m really proud of the team. It really is a team effort to win in endurance racing, especially when you get to these super-long ones. It’s just so hard to win, even if you’re good. It requires all aspects of the program to be good.”

Spencer Pigot drove the final stint of a three-lap victory in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class by the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 he shared with Gar Robinson, Scott Andrews and Oliver Askew. LMP3 was making its WeatherTech Championship debut, and the cars were racing for 24 hours for the first time.

“It was a pretty smooth race, to be honest,” Pigot said. “We kind of stayed out of trouble and did our own thing. That was our plan all along. Nobody knew how reliable these LMP3 cars would be. I don’t think they’d ever run a race this long. One thing we knew is that we’d have the best-prepared car in the paddock, and I think we showed that today.”

The No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier co-driven by Joao Barbosa, Lance Willsey, Wayne Boyd and Yann Clairay finished second in the LMP3 class, followed by the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America Duqueine D08 shared by Moritz Kranz, Laurents Hoerr and Kenton Koch.

The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura in DPi, the No. 8 Tower Motorsport entry in LMP2 and the No. 74 Riley Motorsports LMP3 scored the most points in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup competition, which pays points at regular junctures of the WeatherTech championship’s four endurance races: the Rolex 24, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, and Motul Petit Le Mans.

The WeatherTech Championship season resumes March 17-20 with the Sebring 12 Hours at Sebring International Raceway.

Here’s how NASCAR drivers who competed in the Rolex 24 fared:

— Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Ally Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi finished second overall and second in its class.

— Chase Elliott’s No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi finished eighth overall and sixth in its class.

— Austin Dillon’s No. 51 RWR-Eurasia Ligier LMP2 finished 10th overall and fourth in its class.

— AJ Allmendinger’s No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura DPi finished fourth overall and fourth in its class.